Financing New Sanitary Trunk Construction

Background

Until 1970, the City built all of Edmonton’s major sanitary trunks by itself. In the booming years of 1970s and early 1980s, the province’s revolving trunk fund helped finance this construction. Most trunk construction ceased in early 1980s with the end of the development boom.

In July 1998, City Council approved the Sanitary Servicing Strategy. It puts into place a 75 year plan to provide sanitary servicing for new land developments within the City. For detail, please refer to the Sanitary Servicing Strategy for the 21st Century report.

The Strategy also includes a new mechanism to finance major sanitary trunk constructions as the cost of construction would be too high for either the City’s Sanitary Utility or the development industry to bear alone.

The Fund as well as the long term construction plan are controlled by a Management Committee which is made up of representatives from the City and the private development industry.

Funding

The Sanitary Servicing Strategy Fund (SSSF) which was established on January 1, 1999 pools funds from several sources:

Policy

The SSSF is only used to build sewers larger than 1,050mm in diameter that serve areas greater than 1,400 ha. It is the objective of the SSSF Management Committee to collect revenue ahead of expenditures to ensure financing for major sewer trunk constructions while sustaining a positive balance throughout the term of the plan.

Annual Reports

The following SSSF Annual Reports summarize the design and construction schedules, construction progress, and the financial status of the Fund: